Malison
by tentillAftershock
Summary: Zoro and Sanji never seemed to get along at face value, but a chance encounter with a force capable of making the Straw Hats lose their cook to a fate worse than death brings the two together to face an opponent none of them were prepared for.
1. Prologue - Premonitions

_I can finally put pictures on my stuff, so Malison now has a picture to go with it...yay!  
Malison is an Old French-based word meaning "curse" if you were curious._

___Cover Picture is by: Pixiv Id 2084937_

___Disclaimer: I don't own OnePiece characters...sadly..._

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Prologue: Premonitions

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The sword gleamed with an eerie red light which chilled even Zoro to the bone. He could feel its malice curling dark tendrils around him without even getting near it, let alone possessing it. An unsettling wind stirred around the sword and wrapped around the figure glaring at Zoro with a glowing crimson eye, the sword hanging in silent mockery in his right hand. Normally, he wouldn't think twice about cutting through his opponent, but this time, only one thought was coming to his mind.

The idiot cook that would never use his hands for something like a swordfight gripped the pulsing katana tighter as red energy began to surge around his arm. Sanji was no swordsman and certainly not the type to rely on an outside source of power, especially anything that would hurt his pride as a cook. But as Zoro clenched his fists around his own katana, bit back a sea of emotions behind Wado, and readied himself, there was no pride in Sanji's step and no light in his eye. Sanji's sacrifice had been more than he could have ever known.


	2. Chapter 1 - Encounter

Chapter 1: Encounter

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"What the heck are you doing, you stupid marimo?" Sanji rolled his eyes and let the smoke from his cigarette drift behind him.

"Shut up, ero-cook," Zoro snapped back impatiently as he attempted to find the way back to their ship again.

A cool breeze blew between the tightly knit branches of the unusual twisted trees of the forest which seemed to cover most of the island. The two of them continued forward, leaving footprints in the crumbling crimson dirt covering the land. They could barely see what was in front of them and nothing, not even the wind or the thick canopy of leaves above their heads, broke the silence. Zoro stopped to scan what he thought was the level of the horizon and gripped his swords a little tighter. The uneasy feeling he had felt when the crew had first landed on the island began to creep its way up his neck when the grating voice of the person following him broke through his concentration.

"It's the other way…" Sanji brought his hand to his face. "All these dark trees look the same, but you can freakin see the ship from here shit-for-brains."

"What was that?" Zoro flashed a death glare at Sanji. He hadn't realized that he had started walking off in a random direction.

"I don't want to be out here all day with your ugly mug. There doesn't seem to be anything in this shitty place worth eating, let alone making anything out of anyways," Sanji commented, completely ignoring Zoro and kicking up a small cloud of red dust. "It's getting dark, maybe we should head back. I'll just make something out of what supplies we still have."

"You scared or something idiot-cook?" Zoro took the opportunity and turned to give Sanji a mocking grin.

"WHO THE HELL WOULD BE SCARED?!" Sanji instantly retaliated. "Really…why did they think it was a good idea for you to come along with me anyways? I'd much rather be alone with Nami-swan or Robin-chan."

"Idiot…just don't get in my way," Zoro turned back and began pushing a branch out of his path.

"Why would I get in the way of you helping me find food supplies? Geez," Sanji closed his eyes in annoyance only to have the branch Zoro had just moved out of his way smack him straight in the face. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR IDIOT-MARIMO?!" Sanji rubbed his face gingerly with the annoyance clearly leaking between his fingers.

"Ah, careful for that branch," Zoro warned as if he hadn't heard.

Swords and a very irritated shoe almost met right then and there, but much to Zoro's surprise, Sanji seemed to catch himself on a stray thought, a stray thought so powerful, it literally froze his leg mid-swing. Zoro, Shusui half drawn at his side, widened his eyes in confusion as Sanji begrudgingly lowered his leg to the ground. Warily relaxing his stance, Zoro continued eyeing Sanji suspiciously as the blonde glared daggers at him but made no move to reinitiate another one of their heated physical confrontations. Whatever thought had been strong enough to quell the cook's aggression, Zoro would have to know later.

"I'll kill you one day, you shitty-bastard," Sanji merely muttered between his teeth.

"Stop complaining swirl-freak," Zoro continued nonchalantly, although inwardly he burned to know what had made the cook stop. "If you don't keep up, you're going to get lost."

"I DEFINITELY DON'T WANT TO HERE THAT COMING FROM YOU!" Sanji pointed out in exasperation as he snapped out of whatever thought-train had been rooting him to the spot and followed after Zoro who was already walking in the exact opposite direction of the ship. "I don't know why I'm having you lead anyways. Move out of the way, I'll get us back to the ship."

"Don't tell me what to…"

Zoro was interrupted as a presence and movement caught his eye.

"GET DOWN!" Zoro shouted as he suddenly grabbed Sanji and pulled him to the ground.

A second later, the canopy above them was sliced clean in half and the cloudy sky above them became clearly visible in an instant.

"Oi, where the heck did that come from?" Sanji questioned hurriedly as he darted his head around looking for any signs of movement.

"Someone else is on this island," Zoro glanced around. "But who could cut the forest this way?"

"Tch, Nami-san and Robin-chan better be okay," Sanji gritted his teeth.

"_Why the heck are you worried about them right now?_" Zoro thought in irritation.

Sanji carefully stood up, pulled the cigarette out of his mouth, and blew out a stream of smoke as he continued to scan the area around him. Zoro got up as well, resting his right hand on his three katana, on high alert for any presence. Suddenly, Sanji stamped his cigarette out into the ground and surged forward.

"There you are you little shit," Sanji glared as he easily sliced through a bunch of trees with a single kick to their right.

"Wait a second, idiot," Zoro warned. "We don't know who this guy is or what his power is yet. This could be a trap."

"You can just wait there then, scaredy-cat," Sanji teased.

"You…" Zoro flared. "HOPELESS LOVE-COOK!"

Zoro raced into the clearing Sanji had just made and readied his katana, already back to back with the person he had been insulting not a second ago. He preferred action over careful planning in a situation like this and wasn't about to let himself be outdone by the stupid cook anyways.

"Santouryuu, 108 pound cannon!" Zoro slashed the air in front of him, blasting away even more of the forest to clear away potential hiding spots.

Suddenly, from out of the dust, a figure darted out and slashed at Zoro. Zoro quickly shoved Sanji aside and managed to dodge in midair and landed, instantly bringing his swords up to block the figures next attack. The figure unleashed a barrage of attacks on him which Zoro easily countered but couldn't seem to find the opportunity to land his own counterattack.

"Don't forget that I'm still here," Sanji shot out from the dust still lingering in the air at his side and slammed a kick straight into the figure's head.

The figure was thrown sideways, the sword dropping from his hands and clattering noisily on the hard dirt.

"No one asked for your help," Zoro glowered while lowering his swords, clearly irritated at someone interrupting his fight.

"You're welcome," Sanji just smirked while raising his curly eyebrow.

"I'll rip off that lame spiral-brow of yours," Zoro glared in annoyance.

"Yeah, yeah, but seriously, what's with this guy?" Sanji waved Zoro off and brought the matter back to their opponent.

"Tch…It felt more like I was fighting the sword than the man," Zoro sheathed his katana, complying with Sanji's sudden change in topic with as much forced apathy as he could muster.

Sanji was intently observing the spot to which he had kicked the man into a tree. The man wasn't moving, but the sword was nowhere in sight, even though they had clearly heard it drop onto the floor. There was something off about the man's appearance that made Zoro get that seem uneasy feeling from before, but it was hard to see him from this distance in the failing light and Zoro had more pressing matters to attend to.

"There're more of them…" Zoro warned under his breath.

"Yeah…" Sanji confirmed as he lit another cigarette.

A slight crack to their left instantly snapped Zoro and Sanji into action and they both whirled to face it. They were completely surrounded by people, if you could call them that.

"What the…hell is this?" Sanji froze in place, a look of horror draining the color from his face as the cigarette dropped from his mouth.


	3. Chapter 2 - Friends?

Chapter 2: Friends?

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Sanji was openly shaken. In his mind, he saw a grey forsaken rock standing alone in the middle of a vast sea with nothing but the scorching sun to keep it company. Although the sea licked at the stem of this mushroom-like island, nothing but the dry salty air brushed the lifeless top suspended high above the resources splashing so mockingly below it. Not a single tree or blade of grass swayed in the wind, but two figures sat at opposite ends of this barren wasteland. One was an old geezer, missing a leg and shriveled to the bone with a bag of gold he couldn't eat, and the other was a mere child, frail beyond recognition, with eyes more lifeless than the rocks on which he sat clenching his legs against what was left of his body. As even the sun began to abandon the two clinging to the edges of life's thread, the kid slowly picked up a stone and began to scratch absent-mindedly at the ground next to him where a myriad of tick-marks had already…

Zoro turned to look back at Sanji and noticed the slight shaking in his clenched fists. He narrowed his eyes in concern, but turned back to face the enemies in front of him.

"Oi…you gonna run away?" Zoro mocked softly.

Zoro's voice cut through the montage of his past, and Sanji snapped himself back into reality, closing his eyes for a moment to calm himself, not looking at the mangled, shriveled bodies that looked all too much like they had all starved to death surrounding them. He would have helped them, killing intent or not, if they had been alive. Whatever or whoever had forced them to walk once again, however, would find out the fires of hell burned cold.

"Like hell I'd run away you little shit-head," Sanji murmured in annoyance.

"Fine, but you better quite that shaking," Zoro stated calmly. "In a battle with swordsmen, if you hesitate even for a second, you'll be a dead man."

"I don't need you to tell me that!" Sanji quieted his trembling and charged forward before he could start to psyche himself out again.

Zoro smiled to himself and charged forward himself. He knew Sanji wasn't so much intimidated as he was probably more thinking of how he didn't want to hurt these people, but he wasn't about to sympathize with him. He'd finish this before there was anything to worry about anyways.

"Santouryuu, Tatsumaki!" Zoro raced forward, spun around, and slashed the air in front of him, unleashing a giant tornado of destruction barreling into the men standing before him.

"Eat this, you shitty bastards," Sanji muttered under his breath. Flipping onto his hands, Sanji spun around and knocked all the men around him to the floor with his spinning kick. Quickly following up, he leapt off his hands and slammed straight into the chest of one of the men. Leaping off, he quickly sidestepped a stab at his own chest and swung his leg around to shatter the sword and follow up with his other leg to take the guy out.

"Oni…GIRI!" Zoro cried as he slashed straight through a large group of people, only to have all of them instantly fall to the floor afterwards. "These guys are nothing compared to that other guy," Zoro thought as he continued slashing up another group.

"Oi, Zoro?!" Sanji called from where he was still spinning on his hands to take out another group. "Try not to kill them okay? I'm not sensing anything from them. I don't think they personally have any reason to be doing this."

"You don't have to…tell me that," Zoro responded as he blocked one of the men's attacks and pushed him off. "I've been using the back of my swords from the beginning."

"Heh…" Sanji sighed. "Tatsumaki and Onigiri are enough to kill any normal person even if you use the back of your swords idiot-marimo," he thought despondently. "Woah…"

Sanji barely managed to dodge a slash from one of the men, but quickly recovered and flipped backwards, kicking the guy in the chin on his way back.

"Hey cook, stop spacing out!" Zoro taunted.

"Shut up idiot-swordsman," Sanji glared as he moved to stand back to back with Zoro. "This isn't getting us anywhere."

"We could always just kill them all," Zoro said unflinchingly.

"Pft, that's a little overboard even for you don't you think?" Sanji raised his eyebrow.

"I'm serious," Zoro responded with a completely straight face, turning to face Sanji for a second.

"Yeah, I know," Sanji smiled. "Get down for a second."

"What are you talking abou…" Zoro was cut-off as his head was shoved down and Sanji leapt over his back, slamming his leg into a crowd of people that had tried to take the brief opportunity to stab at Zoro while he wasn't looking.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING, DARTBOARD-EYEBROW?!" Zoro raged.

"Once again, you're welcome," Sanji shrugged. "I didn't have enough room with you in the way, so I had to make do. Coming from behind is a cheap move anyway right? I thought you didn't like stuff like that."

"Y…YOU…" Zoro seethed.

"I'm no swordsman, but I was pretty sure…" Sanji was cut short as one of Zoro's swords suddenly zoomed straight past his face and nicked the tips of his hair. "…what…" Sanji quickly turned around only to see one of the men right behind him with the same sword as before held ready to strike him. Instead, blood began trickling down the man's mouth, and he fell to the floor with Zoro's sword stuck in his chest, the strange sword disappearing again.

"I told you to stop spacing out," Zoro casually walked to retrieve his sword.

"…tch…I don't need you looking out for me…" Sanji lit another cigarette and blew out a stream of smoke in frustration.

"When was I ever doing something like that?" Zoro mockingly smiled at Sanji as he pulled his sword out of the man and flicked it to get the blood off. "My sword slipped, and he happened to jump in the way. Sorry, couldn't help that one."

"Pft, whatever…" Sanji walked over and looked around. "Still, that guy had that weird sword again, but I don't see it. It seems like it disappears every time the person using it gets knocked out…or otherwise incapacitated. What's going on here?"

"How should I know?" Zoro repositioned all his swords. "For now, let's just finish these guys off and get back to Luffy and the others."

"Don't boss me around," Sanji huffed. "But you do have a point. Something's not right on this island."

"Karasuma Gari!" Zoro wasted no more time and lunged forward, slashing through most of the men left standing.

Sanji quickly followed up by dashing to one of the men on the edge of the group and sent him flying with enough force to send him barreling down the line of men, taking them out with him. Sanji quickly sped in the man's wake and took out anyone still standing.

"That should take care of them for a while," Sanji dusted himself off and put out his cigarette.

"Oi, ero-cook…" Zoro called from a distance. "Stop doing your makeup and let's get going."

"WHAT WAS THAT? Wait just a second! You're going to get lost for sure," Sanji started running over with rage fueled steps.

"How could I get lost? We just cleared a lot of the trees out of the way, and I can see the bay where we left the ship from here. We just have to head in that direction, right?" Zoro pointed out confidently, not at all intimidated by the man surrounded by almost visible flames stalking towards him.

"Yeah, but…" Sanji's eyes suddenly widened in alarm as he saw a glint of steel flash behind Zoro. "Zoro, behind you!" Sanji shouted with all his might.

Zoro instantly turned, just in time to block the man's blade. The strange sword glowed ever so faintly in the darkening night as Zoro prepared to face it again. Gathering his strength, Zoro pushed the man off and moved to give the finishing blow, but the eerie red glow around the sword suddenly intensified and the man was forcefully pulled out of the way and slashed down at Zoro. Zoro quickly brought his other sword up to block it and got into a parrying fight with the man/sword.

Sanji knew Zoro could handle it from here, so he didn't try to interfere this time. Instead, he began scanning the rest of the edge of the forest for any signs of anyone else hiding. Something caught his eye behind Zoro again, and he narrowed his eyes in thought. He tried to shout at Zoro to watch his back, but the swordsman was too engrossed in dealing with the creepy sword to hear him. Realizing what was happening Sanji's visible eye grew dark and, gritting his teeth, he sprang forward.

The man continued his onslaught on Zoro, but Zoro was ready to end this pointless fight already, so he brought his swords up for the finishing blow when his eyes widened as he realized one of the zombie-like swordsmen was getting ready to finish him from the back. Just in time, however, Sanji shattered the sword the man was holding with a quick kick and knocked the guy away. Zoro quickly finished what he was going to do and ended his fight with the other man with a quick slash in the stomach.

"You were a little slow there idiot-coo…" Zoro trailed off as he turned around and saw what was actually happening behind him.

Sanji stood with his back to Zoro gripping the sword stabbed through the right side of his gut. Bracing himself, Sanji kept his grip on the sword and slammed his foot into his attacker's stomach, sending him flying backwards and into a tree. With that being the last one, Sanji fell to his knees still gripping the sword.

"Oi, aho-cook!" Zoro shouted and raced over.

Sanji didn't look up and was staring at the sword which had pierced him.

"Cook?" Zoro repeated and ran in front of him to look at the damage. "What happened?"

"I don't really…Don't worry about it," Sanji started as he gripped his wound. "Idiot…where were you looking? The sword left that guy ages ago…shitty cowardly sword…" Sanji's eyes were dark as he reached for the handle to try to pull the sword out.

"Cowardly sword?" Zoro raised an eyebrow and then stopped short as he noticed what sword had pierced Sanji.

The strange sword from before gleamed in the fading sunlight and seemed to almost be laughing. It was an onyx black katana with red on the inner grip and a golden guard shaped like an eye. On the blade itself, there were red markings which began glowing with an unnerving bloody light.

"This isn't any normal sword," Sanji commented as he knitted his eyebrows in frustration. He was having trouble removing it in a good way. "Ngh…" Sanji suddenly bent over double and gripped at his chest.

"What's wrong?!" Zoro quickly knelt down.

"Take…out the sword…" Sanji struggled with his eye tightly shut.

"Are you su…" Zoro started uncertainly.

"JUST DO IT!" Sanji grabbed Zoro's arm.

Zoro narrowed his eyes in agreement and, standing up, took hold of the sword's grip.

"Brace yourself," Zoro warned and quickly pulled the sword out as carefully as he could.

"Uuhn…" Sanji cringed a little as blood began to flow out of his wound.

"We have to get Chopper to deal with that as fast as possible," Zoro looked down at Sanji who was breathing heavily and trying to put pressure on the wound to stop the bleeding as best he could. "I'll hold onto this…sword," Zoro paused for a second as the sword quickly turned to dust in his hand. "Just what kind of sword is this?" Zoro questioned in anger. "You going to be okay, cook?"

"Don't…worry about me," Sanji looked up with a determined smirk on his face. "Something like this is nothing."

Sanji managed to stand up on his own with a little effort and began walking towards the ship.

"Let's just get back as fast as possible…" he continued with a slight wobble.

Zoro watched him limp along in resolve, so he followed silently behind him, making sure no one else decided to attack them. Something about this whole thing was starting to bother him. Even if it was a whole group of people attacking at once, Sanji should've been able to handle people of their level regardless of the weird sword. Something else had happened.

After a while, Sanji was able to walk with a little more stability, so Zoro moved to walk next to him. Sanji was still holding the place the sword had stabbed him, but the blood flow had slowed considerably and Sanji looked like he was in a lot less pain than before. He, however, was looking straight forward, and it seemed almost like he was spacing out.

"Hey, cook," Zoro started.

"What?" Sanji mumbled, much to Zoro's surprise. He hadn't been expecting a response at all.

"You…going to tell me what happened back there?" Zoro squeezed out of the corners of his mouth.

Sanji glanced over at Zoro for a moment in mild shock and slight amusement, but turned away quickly.

"You concerned about me or something," Sanji replied with a wry smile.

"Hmph…stop dreaming," Zoro huffed. "Look, I'm going to get straight to the point. Why'd you not dodge that last attack?" Zoro suddenly pressed. "You could have easily dodged it."

"Tch…" Sanji closed his eye. "Look…you don't have to feel guilty about anything…it was my own fault."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Zoro narrowed his eyes.

"Don't give me that look idiot-marimo…" Sanji kept facing forward but glanced to his right at Zoro. "It's no big deal."

"Like hell it is…" Zoro huffed. "What do you mean it was your own fault? Are you just that lame?"

Sanji sighed.

"Who wouldn't help a friend when he's about to be killed?" he stated flatly.

"What are you talking about?" Zoro glared back. "I could've handled something like that. Even if I got hit, I wouldn't be taken down by that."

"DON'T YOU GET IT YOU SHITTY-MARIMO?!" Sanji suddenly grabbed Zoro by the collar of his shirt, fire burning in his eyes.

"What do you think you're doing, love-cook?!" Zoro growled back.

"I…" Sanji blinked uncertainly.

He slowly let go of Zoro and turned away as quickly as he could. Why was he getting so angry? This was Zoro, and everything he did really kind of pissed him off, but he really hadn't done anything that warranted such a reaction yet.

"Hey idiot, everything ok?" Zoro asked tentatively as he grabbed Sanji's shoulder.

Sanji jumped a little at the contact, but looked back over his shoulder at Zoro frowning at him. Despite all the effort Zoro was putting into masking it, he could see the worry in the corners of his eyes.

"Yeah…" Sanji said to the side as he turned back around. "Just forget about it."

"What was that all about?" Zoro pressed as he completely did not just forget about it. He let go of Sanji's shoulder and rested his hand back on his swords staring at Sanji expectantly.

Sanji watched him looking all superior and all sense of normalcy returned to him in an instant.

"It must've just been your shitty face," Sanji threw sideways as he commenced walking towards the ship again.

"What was that?!" Zoro growled exasperatedly as he grudgingly followed after Sanji. "Remind me never to care what happens to you again."

Instead of making fun of Zoro for just admitting he had been worried, Sanji started to actually feel kind of bad and let Zoro catch up to him.

"L…look," Sanji started a little embarrassed by what he was about to say. "I don't know why I got so mad just now, but do you really wanna know how I feel?"

"Tch…I don't really care anymore," Zoro huffed. "Go get stabbed by as many swords as you want."

"Just…" Sanji sighed. "It's just that…we're nakama right?"

Zoro couldn't help but stop mid-stride for a second as Sanji's comment nearly tripped him in its wake.

"W…well yeah," he stated as he quickly tried to recover himself. "But the same can be said from my perspective right? I don't want to see my…nakama…get hurt either. I'm perfectly capable of protecting myself."

"It's…not as simple as that," Sanji suddenly looked him dead in the eyes. "This has been bothering me ever since the incident on Thriller Bark. You might be Mr. Tough-guy, but there is only so much your body can take. Don't forget that you have the rest of us around you too. We're not just here for show. I…we're supposed to be friends right?"

Zoro listened silently. What was all this all of a sudden? Did Sanji just call him a friend, not even masking it behind the word "nakama?" Did he know about what happened after Zoro had knocked him out on Thriller Bark? He didn't think Sanji would be the one to give him this lecture, and under these circumstances, it was actually starting to piss him off.

"What about you then?" Zoro controlled his anger and hinted softly. "Why take a hit for me when it could've killed you?" Zoro glanced down at Sanji's wound still slowly leaking blood between Sanji's fingers where he was holding it. "This isn't the first time you've tried to save me. Even Thriller Bark as you mentioned, you tried to get in the way. Isn't that being a little selfish too?" Zoro glared as he looked back up into Sanji's visible eye.

"That's…" Sanji fumbled for the right words as he realized Zoro was kind of right. "The…gravity of the situation was too different…but I guess…we have the same mind-set then. You'd sacrifice yourself in an instant to make sure the rest of the crew survives?"

"Sacrifice huh? Don't get ahead of yourself. I do things my way to avoid that word because I can take it," Zoro scoffed. "Unlike a certain whiny weakling chef," he added in just for good nature.

"Why do I even bother?" Sanji rolled his eye and pushed past Zoro, but he knew better. "I know," he added in an almost inaudible whisper. "Thanks."

Sanji could feel Zoro tense up as he passed him and his walking faltered for only a few scant milliseconds before he hastily pulled his bravado back together and caught up.

"You talk too much," Zoro fixed his attention back on the path in front of them.

"Haha," Sanji let out a short laugh. "Yeah, yeah, I get it. I kept your shitty little stunt on Thriller Bark a secret from the rest of the crew didn't I?"

"So you do know what happened…" Zoro mumbled.

"Tch…I might not have seen it directly due to a certain someone might I add, but I'm probably the one that knows you best. Er…um…well can relate. You really think I wouldn't be able to piece two and two together?

"Hmph…do whatever you want," Zoro tried to end the conversation. He could feel his face growing warmer and flushing a little for reasons he told himself related to anger, and it took all he had just to keep his gaze fixed forward.


	4. Chapter 3 - A Blackening Sky

_Things might be getting a little OOC…but…I do what I want. _\( ._. )/

_Thanks to all of you that Fav'ed or Followed or Reviewed or all the above'd. It makes me want to avoid school some more and NOT procrastinate writing fanfiction._

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**Chapter 3: A Blackening Sky**

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The sun disappeared over the horizon and night began to envelope the land. Zoro glanced around him at the trees which seemed to grow even darker in the fading light. The whole forest seemed to resonate with a chilling stir and the crumbling ground beneath their feet began to look like a black, void sea ready to swallow them at the tip of a hat.

Sanji was still walking in front of Zoro, gingerly holding the spot he had been stabbed by the weird sword, but stopped to lean against a tree for a moment. Zoro closed his eyes in understanding and caught up to stand in front of him. Sweat covered Sanji's body and he was breathing heavily with his eye closed in concentration and his head leaning back. Zoro glanced back at the way they had just come and observed the trail of blood they had been leaving behind. Sanji's wound had slowed down to a crawl, but for some reason, the cut from that sword would not stop bleeding all together.

"I'm still surprised by how…this forest manages to thrive in this shitty soil…" Sanji suddenly broke through Zoro's thoughts. His arms were shaking, but he took out a cigarette and lit it, blowing out a steady stream of smoke which drifted silently above the canopy.

"You're not looking too good yourself idiot-cook," Zoro crossed his arms and leaned on a tree in front of the blonde.

"Better than you any day," Sanji replied nonchalantly.

"Shut up. What are you, a child?" Zoro snapped back.

Sighing, Sanji wearily rubbed his temples with the hand not clutching his wound and blew out another stream of smoke. Why did he always have to get into arguments with this stupid marimo? It's like he couldn't help it even though he REALLY was not in the mood for a fight right now.

"I don't like the look of this forest at nighttime," he decided to change the subject as if that last exchange never happened. "We should be close to the ship by now…I wonder if Luffy and Brook found anything…"

"Stop changing the subject…but let's just hope the ship is still okay after what we just witnessed," Zoro stated flatly.

"Nami-san…Robin-chan…" Sanji sighed.

"What about everyone else?" Zoro rolled his eyes.

"Hmm…if Luffy found something on this shitty island, I wonder how I should cook it…" Sanji became lost in cooking thoughts as he got up from the tree and continued walking towards the ship.

"Worry about yourself a little more and just do whatever with your shitty cooking…" Zoro mumbled to himself as he followed Sanji.

Sanji continued to be lost in thought as they began to see the edge of the forest. Suddenly, a gale of wind shook the trees with blistering force. The cigarette dropped from Sanji's mouth and was instantly extinguished as it flew away with the wind. There was only a split second of nothing but the blistering sound of the wind before Sanji began crying out in pain, gripping the spot he had been stabbed by the sword. He fell to the ground writhing in agony and continued crying out as a burning sensation as if all his organs were on fire ripped through his body.

"Oi, cook!" Zoro rushed over. "What's wrong?"

Sanji couldn't even respond; the pain had him in a stranglehold. His voice rose in desperation as blood began trickling out of the corners of his mouth.

"SANJI!" Zoro shouted in concern without thinking.

The gale continued to rattle the trees and Zoro could have sworn he heard a mocking laughter whistling with the wind. Suddenly, Sanji stopped struggling all together. The pain and lack of blood had been too much for him, and he had finally passed out. Zoro watched in horror as blood began silently seeping out of Sanji's tightly knit eye, and he knew he had to get Sanji out of there.

"THAT'S IT!" Zoro bellowed at the air in anger and frustration. "THIS ISN'T OVER! DON'T THINK I WON'T BE BACK FOR YOU, YOU DAMN SWORD!"

With that, Zoro lifted Sanji in his arms and raced for the edge of the forest. The gale continued to chase him and Zoro could barely keep his eyes open, but he continued running with all his might until he burst from the forest. It was as if the wind had hit a barrier and fell out of the sky. The gale immediately subsided and Zoro was again surrounded by silence. Panting, Zoro quickly looked around for any sign of their ship and saw it still peacefully anchored a little up the coast. He could see a fire, so he assumed everyone must already be there.

Suddenly, Sanji began coughing in his arms, trembling with pain as he moved to grip his wound again. Blood was still trickling out of his mouth and eyes and his wound looked like it was paining him more than ever. Zoro carefully readjusted Sanji in his arms and dashed as fast as he could towards their ship. He could see Nami, Robin, Usopp, Chopper, and Franky sitting around the campfire joking around and began shouting at them.

Nami turned to see Zoro racing towards them, battered, with his eyes so desperate, she could see them shaking from where she where she sat.

"Zoro?" Nami questioned, and the rest of the gang turned to see Zoro running at them. "What's the rush about? S…Sanji-kun?" Nami suddenly noticed Sanji lying in Zoro's arms. "What are you guys doing?" she asked in concern. "What happened?"

"CHOPPER?! CHOPPER?!" Zoro begged. "CHOPPER! IT'S THE IDIOT-COOK!"

"What's going on?" Chopper asked as he darted out to go meet with Zoro.

"We were attacked in the forest and…anyways…the cook's in trouble," Zoro panted as he leaned down to let Chopper take a look.

"What's…this?" Nami gasped as she covered her mouth in shock.

"S…Sanji…" Usopp trembled as he took a step back.

"Cook-san…" Robin murmured.

"Oi, oi…" Franky remarked. "This looks like more than just trouble to me…"

"What is…Zoro, hurry and take him onto the ship!" Chopper quivered.

"Yeah!" Zoro stood up and ran, holding Sanji as carefully as he could, onto the ship towards Chopper's room.

"W…What was that?" Nami was shaking and looking down at Chopper.

"I don't know…" Chopper started. "…anyways…I've gotta hurry too!"

Chopper raced back to the ship after Zoro, leaving the rest still standing frozen in shock on the beach.

"Did his wound get infected or something?" Robin remarked nonchalantly.

"Curly-cook doesn't really seem like the type to catch weirdo diseases out in a place like this," Franky scratched his head. "What the heck happened?"

"Sanji!" Usopp suddenly shouted and raced for the ship.

"I'm gonna check the library really quick," Nami abruptly looked back at the ship in determination and ran after Usopp.

"I'll watch the fire," Robin stated calmly. "Someone has to tell Captain-san what's happened."

"In that case, I'll stay here too. There's no sense in me going up there since causing a ruckus and making a lot of noise would probably only worsen the situation for everyone," Franky sighed.

"I believe that will happen regardless," Robin smiled and sat back down near the fire. "We can have faith in Chopper. But…_what actually was that just now_…" Robin thought as she recalled what she had just seen: Sanji with blood seeping out of his eyes, mouth, and wound, and his right hand blackening with a malefic aura and slowly looking as though it was shriveling away.

Back on the ship, Zoro burst into Chopper's room and carefully laid Sanji on one of the beds. Sanji's breathing was raspy and sweat and blood covered his face. His now completely blackened right hand lay limp as though all the nerves had just been devoured. Zoro looked on with a sullen face, but, inwardly, he feared for the cook's life. Chopper soon followed him into the room and immediately ran over to Sanji.

"Zoro, help me take off his clothes!" Chopper instantly demanded.

Zoro set his face into something short of a grimace and backed off a little.

"What's wrong?!" Chopper turned to glare at him. "I need to get to his wound!"

"Ah…" Zoro walked back over and helped prop Sanji up.

"He's already been moved around too much as it is…" Chopper remarked. "I mean…not that you could probably help it…Make sure you hold him as still as possible."

"Yeah…" Zoro carefully held Sanji's shoulders while Chopper began removing Sanji's suit.

When they finally got Sanji's shirt off, Zoro and Chopper's eyes widened in horror. Zoro quickly grit his teeth to keep himself from dropping Sanji. Apart from the blood still trickling out of Sanji's wound, black veins were spreading out like the roots of a tree to slowly cover his entire body. Everywhere they were spreading, it looked as though they were sucking the very life out of him as his skin began to blacken and shrivel away. They had already made their way down his right arm, which is why his right hand had become completely useless.

"Lay him back down gently," Chopper's voice shook a little as he hastily gathered his surgical tools and sifted through his medicines to find the ones he thought would help.

"This is…" even Zoro couldn't help shaking a little as he slowly placed Sanji's head back on the pillow.

"You have to tell me exactly what happened," Chopper said over his shoulder. "I…I've never encountered anything like this…"

"We were in the forest," Zoro began as he pulled over a chair and sat in it. "We were just looking for something edible to eat when we were suddenly attacked by a man with a weird sword."

"A weird sword?" Chopper stopped searching for a little and turned to face Zoro.

"Yeah…it was a katana…" Zoro continued.

"A katana? Like your type of swords?" Chopper questioned as he turned back.

"Yeah…it was black with a red grip and golden guard shaped like…an eye. It was easy enough dealing with the man, but the sword disappeared when we knocked him out. Before we knew it, we were surrounded by people that looked…kind of like how Sanji does now, except their whole bodies were shriveled almost as though they had starved to death," Zoro's eyes widened as he realized that the people they had been fighting with must have gone through something like Sanji was going through now, but how they had been moving, he had no idea.

"Do you know who any of the people were?" Chopper pressed. The little reindeer had gathered all of whatever it is he needed and was now fussing over Sanji, cleaning up all the blood and gently wiping some of the grime from his trembling body.

"They looked like they had all been just normal people," Zoro remarked. "Most of them were just a bunch of weaklings that could barely use a sword. I had no idea who any of them were. They didn't even seem like they were real inhabitants of the island or part of one particular crew…and I doubt either of us had ever met one of them before in our lives. We thought the island was uninhabited. Whatever the case, whenever someone appeared holding that weird sword, they would be more powerful, quicker, and more responsive than the others…now that I think about it…the sword seemed to only use those who were on the stronger side.

"You keep referring to the sword like it's a living thing. Are there swords that are like that?" Chopper paused just long enough to give Zoro a look like he had just seen a ghost.

"It's not too weird to think about," Zoro responded. "All swords have a certain life of their own…but this one…didn't feel right."

"So, what happened to Sanji?" Chopper finished and arranged all his supplies on one of the work benches, ready to get down to the serious work.

"We had finished off most of the men…I got tied up fending off a guy from the front when some guys came at me from behind. The idiot…took the hit for me, and…he ended up being stabbed by that weird sword," Zoro closed his eyes in frustration. "When we took out the sword, it just vanished again. It didn't seem that bad at first, but as we were getting near the ship, a nasty wind began to blow and he suddenly began to be like this," Zoro opened his eyes again and looked over at Sanji.

"A nasty wind? So maybe it's this island's climate mixed with something on the weird sword!" Chopper suggested. "We need to find it! I'll tell the others, but first, let me give some of this medicine to Sanji. I really don't want to attempt to treat something I know anything about, but if we leave him the way he is, he might not have a life to save at all. All I can do for now is treat the effects at the very least. I don't even think this is some kind of disease that can be cured by medicine judging by your story, but we have to try something. Zoro, I need you to hold him down. You might have to use some considerable force, but we can't have him thrashing around."

"Yeah…" Zoro quickly got up and held down Sanji's shoulders. "This good?"

"Yeah, that should work," Chopper nodded. "This is going to be painful…bear with it Sanji," Chopper whispered softly.

Chopper then took out a syringe and filled it with a white, milky liquid.

"This is to hopefully stop all his bleeding," Chopper stated as he tested the syringe to make sure it came out properly. "Hold him still now."

Chopper bent over Sanji and began inserting the syringe into Sanji's left arm. Instantly, Sanji let out a cry of agony. His whole body tensed up and he even opened his bleeding eye wide in deep pain, revealing how damaging all the bleeding from it had been. It was completely blood-shot to the point where the white of his eye was now a pale red. Even his normally bright blue iris was shadowed by a crimson glaze.

"This is worse than I thought," Chopper remarked. "Keep him down Zoro."

"I got it," Zoro gritted his teeth.

Sanji closed his eye again and Zoro could feel him shaking and twitching even with him holding him down. As Chopper finished, Sanji instinctively shot out his good arm and gripped Zoro's wrist as hard as he could.

Slowly, Zoro began to realize that Sanji wasn't shaking anymore. Instead, he was gritting his teeth and as the tinges of pain came, he would squeeze Zoro's arm tighter to prevent himself from moving.

"Idiot cook…" Zoro looked on helplessly. "Chopper, are you done yet?"

"I've already given him what I can for now, but I still have to somehow patch up that cut," Chopper was already making sure the cut area was disinfected. "I'm not sure about the spreading blackness yet, all I can do is stop his bleeding…I don't even know if moving the skin around there will make it worse or not. Even if I do stop the blackness, I don't know if it will last forever, and if nothing is done, that black stuff could still spread and perhaps even get worse, though I hope stopping the bleeding should help sustain his life…a little longer, so…"

"Don't worry about it Chopper," Zoro smiled warmly. "You've done more than enough already."

"Thanks Zoro," Chopper turned with tears in his eyes.

Zoro looked back down at Sanji who was still gripping his wrist so hard, it was starting to cut off his circulation, but he didn't mind. Now that he thought about it, the cook was stronger in his hands than he thought he was.

Chopper began stitching Sanji's wound with steady doctor's hands despite his quivering lip as he held back his tears, carefully touching, but yet doing his best to avoid, any of the black areas. When he finished and asked Zoro to hold Sanji up again so he could put some bandages on, it was only then that Sanji suddenly released Zoro's arm and fell completely unconscious again. When the bandages were secure and Zoro laid Sanji gingerly back down on the bed and the black tendrils stopped their advance and Sanji seemed to relax, both Chopper and Zoro let out a collective long sigh of relief and sunk into chairs.

"CHOPPER!" Nami suddenly burst through the door.

"WAHHH!" Chopper screamed in surprise.

"Ngh…" Sanji cringed.

"S…Sorry Sanji," Chopper pulled his hat over his eyes in shame.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" Zoro hadn't actually said anything, but that's what his eyes were growling in blazing fury as they turned on the navigator.

Nami instantly threw her hands over her mouth in apology, but beaconed for Chopper to follow her. Zoro started to get up, but Nami silently shook her head.

"I'm sorry for barging in like that, but someone needs to stay and watch over him," Nami whispered and actually bowed her head in apology. "I need to tell Chopper what I've just found out. Please Zoro…I know it's Sanji, but we can't leave him alone."

"Ok, but hurry back," Zoro sat back down and glanced over at Sanji.

Nami looked a little surprised at first but then hurriedly ushered Chopper out the door. Chopper hesitantly complied after making assuring eye-contact with Zoro, and the door closed behind them. Usopp was standing right outside the door. Apparently, he had been listening in and had also just seen what condition Sanji was actually in, because he was clenching his fists and glaring at the floor.

Sanji had always supported him in the past. Even when he had left the crew, other than Chopper, Sanji had stuck by him the most and had protected him from not only Jyabura, but had stopped Luffy before he had a chance to yell at him to get his stuff and leave the ship in blind fury. When Sanji took his place fighting Jyabura, it was Sanji who had told him that he had a place in the crew and to do what the rest of them could not. Sanji had even sacrificed himself for Nami and him when they were escaping from Enel's Ark during their Skypiea adventure despite saying he was going to let Usopp sacrifice himself as a joke.

Clenching his fists tighter, Usopp turned away from the door and walked over to Nami and Chopper. There was no way Sanji was going to let something like this take him out. He'd do what he could do and would figure out a way to save Sanji or at least help.

* * *

_Don't worry, this is still mostly centered on our favorite duo, but I don't want to leave the rest of the crew out. Our favorite chef is important to everyone._

_I feel sad when I don't get to write dialogue between our chef and swordsman, even if it's rival banter. I wonder if that's how they feel. : )_

_Also, holy sh*t Zoro had some of the larger paragraphs of dialogue in this which felt really weird to me because he's usually there saying something profound or badass with as few words as possible and isn't the one for long explanations, but SOMEONE had to do it and Sanji wasn't about to rise from the bed and do it for him._

_Also, also, whatever Chopper does around healing stuff will probably be a bunch of made up b*llsh*t because I'm a game artist, not a doctor, and a lot of this isn't even afflictions of this world, so…yeah._


	5. Chapter 4 - The Comfort of Insults

_I'm starting a weekly update schedule…kind of. Sometimes maybe only a couple days in between just so I can write and edit around school. I'll try to keep the chapters in between 3-4 thousand words for consistency and cuz I feel it's more readable. :P_

* * *

**Chapter 4: The Comfort of Insults**

Zoro quietly got up and removed his swords, leaning them at the foot of Sanji's bed.

"A bunch of idiots…" Zoro thought to himself as he walked back over to his chair. "Who bursts into an operation room like that?"

Now that things had finally calmed down and Sanji seemed to finally be past the worst of things, the room was quiet and Zoro could think to himself. He couldn't help but look at Sanji's dead arm and narrowed his eyes. It seemed like Chopper had guessed right. The bleeding had finally stopped, and the blackness's spreading had slowed to almost nothing, but he knew it wouldn't be like that forever. If he had been paying more attention or defeated that guy sooner, this never would've happened. He lowered his head and clenched his fists in frustration thinking about how, if anything, it should have been him in this situation, not Sanji.

"Idiot-cook…" Zoro muttered, unable to say anything else.

"Z…Zoro?" Sanji's voice suddenly snapped Zoro to full attention.

"Dartbrow?" Zoro's head shot up to see Sanji with his eye barely open, staring at the ceiling.

"Tch…so…it is you…muscle brains…" Sanji carefully turned his head to look and even as worn as he was, his face turned to obvious disgust. Through his hazy vision, everything was blurred out of focus, but the silhouette of the man sitting beside him was all too recognizable. "Why are…you the one…that's here?" he asked in utter disappointment.

"Idiot…how am I supposed to know?" Zoro sounded annoyed, but inwardly, he was just happy to hear Sanji talking like his old self.

"Ahhh…if I woke up…I wanted to see Nami-san and…Robin-chan…gazing with concerned faces…down at me…" Sanji mused with some effort. "Ehh…but I had to wake up…to your shitty, ugly mug…"

"Stop talking eyebrow-freak," Zoro was fuming. "You sound like a dying pig."

"WHAAAT?!" Sanji exploded but then couldn't help but start coughing.

"See, I told you," Zoro shrugged, although he was kind of sorry he had riled him up to the point where Sanji had already overexerted himself…kind of.

"Guh…if I could move right now…I'd definitely kick your sorry ass…" Sanji was holding his wound now and was looking back up at the ceiling. "Anyways, Zoro…anything happen while I was out?"

"_Worry about yourself a little bit_," Zoro thought to himself. "If you're asking about that damn sword, nothing's happened," Zoro outwardly answered. "It hasn't shown itself since…then."

"I see…then Nami-san and Robin-chan are ok…ah, thank goodness," Sanji let out a sigh of relief.

"Oi, cook, are you sure you're feeling alright enough to be thinking about this kind of stuff?" Zoro interrupted Sanji's daydreams.

"Heh…you worried about me?" Sanji teased.

"Like hell I am," Zoro curled his lip in disgust. "I just don't want you slowing us down."

"I'll try not to…" Sanji responded as he suddenly began to make like he was going to get up.

"What are you trying to do?!" Zoro shot out of his chair.

Sanji didn't get more than a little of his head off the pillow before he gave up and fell back on his pillow, breathing heavily. Maybe that wasn't such a good idea.

"Look at yourself," Zoro glared. "Stop pushing it already crappy-cook."

"Hey, I'm not a…Just…just go shove it, idiot-ma…," Sanji turned to face Zoro to insult him to his face, but was cut short. "Did…you dye your hair or something? Wow, you're even more of an idiot than I thought…"

"What the hell are you talking about Brainless?" Zoro cocked his eyebrows in confusion.

Sanji was squinting his eye and blinking, but no matter how hard he tried, even with the haze a little less than before, color refused to appear on objects he knew should've been bathed in color.

"Yo! Shit-for-brains! I asked what the hell you were talking about," Zoro repeated.

"Shut up I…can't seem to see properly," Sanji narrowed his eyes in concentration.

"What?" Zoro grit his teeth.

"Now that I think about it, what's happening to me?" Sanji continued with a distant voice.

"That's…" Zoro started.

"For some reason, it feels like my right arm isn't even here," Sanji mused to the ceiling.

He had no idea what was going on, but suddenly, all the pain caught up with him. He tried moving his right arm and only a jarring pain surged through his entire body. He blinked a few more times, but the world was becoming less and less in focus. Fear began crawling up his spine like a nest of spiders and a nervousness he never thought he could feel began tugging at the corners of his mind. Failing vision, one of his precious hands out of commission, what was happening? All of his worst fears started playing through his head like a film reel. A single drop of salty water fell silently from his already blood-stained eye, and he quickly moved his left hand to cover his face, trying to hide it. What was he doing? This wasn't like him.

"Hey uh…cook?" Zoro fumbled for words as he looked on helplessly. All form of fight falling away from him as he watched Sanji doing his best to stifle obvious tears.

"What happened to me Zoro?" Sanji repeated shakily at the ceiling.

Sanji was trying his best to remain positive, but for some reason, it felt like he had no confidence and all the happiness had just been sucked right out of him. He remembered that Zoro was still there, however, and it quickly made him regain at least a little of his composure.

"Just…never mind. Why are you still here?" he asked Zoro in humiliation as he turned away. "Staying to mash on how lame I am?"

A thought like that hadn't even crossed Zoro's mind, and he silently knelt at Sanji's bedside. It had finally hit him what losing a hand like that must mean to someone like Sanji, and on top of that, he was apparently losing his vision? He had always explained why he didn't use his hands while fighting, as a cook shouldn't soil their "all-important hands of creation." It wasn't just one hand too. If things went on like this, Sanji could lose, not only his other hand and eyes, but the use of his powerful legs and possibly his life as well. He could lose everything. It broke him to think about it, and he had no idea why.

"That's not…why would you even think that?" Zoro could only mutter.

"If you're going to insult me, I don't even care anymore," Sanji said softly, moving his left hand to hold his side again. His tears had stopped.

"STOP TALKING IDIOT!" Zoro couldn't help but shout this time.

"Don't tell me to…" Sanji swallowed his words as he turned his head back over to barely make out Zoro kneeling beside his bed. It was a sight he never thought he would see if a god had descended and tried to show him. It was terrifying. Anger blazed across Zoro's face, but Sanji could tell it was not directed at him; he had felt that too many times not to know. It wasn't the anger, but the tears streaming down the swordsman's face that left him utterly speechless and stumbling over his own tongue to attempt some kind of words. "Woah, woah…what…" Sanji just couldn't make his mouth work.

"I'm…I'm so…this is all my fault!" Zoro opened his eyes and glowered in tear-filled fury at Sanji. "I should've been stronger! I should've been able to cut that sword right in half from the beginning."

"Zoro, wait a second. I didn't mean to put any blame on you," Sanji desperately tried to calm Zoro down. Tears? Why was Zoro crying for HIM? For some reason, it bothered him to see Zoro in such an unusually emotional state, and he wanted him to go back to being his usual stoic self rather than this mess.

"You might not be able to…" Zoro was practically grinding his teeth together. "I didn't even think about it…Y…You're the one that told me that you shouldn't try to take so much on yourself! So what about YOU?! Do you realize what's happening?!"

Sanji just stared back at Zoro for a little before taking a deep breath, shoving his own fears to the back of his mind for now.

"No, I DON'T!" Sanji burst. "Really…Whatever happened, I'm alive aren't I? I DON'T NEED YOU BABYING ME AND I MOST CERTAINTLY DO NOT NEED YOUR PITY!"

"IT'S NOT PITY!" Zoro almost slammed his fist against Sanji's bed. "It's…not pity…for you…"

"Then what is it?" Sanji's voice was a little lower, but the irritation was still laced in his words.

"I…I'm sorry I let this happen," Zoro turned away to try to hide more tears.

"That's pitiful Zoro."

"WHAT?!" Zoro fumed as he snapped his head back to meet Sanji's eye. Here he was putting his pride aside to apologize to the shitty cook and all he had to say about it was to berate him? Was he serious?

"Roronoa Zoro does not apologize, especially to me," Sanji never broke eye-contact.

"Are you being serious right now?" Zoro's tears were quickly drying up and were probably closer to evaporating with the amount of heat his anger was spewing off of him.

"Roronoa Zoro does things his own way in whatever way he believes in, doesn't care what the rest of the world thinks about it, and does NOT apologize for his actions because he never takes actions he will regret," Sanji let out a light laugh. "And it's partly why I can't stand the guy. He's always so sure of himself…"

The billowing anger inside Zoro melted into a puddle at his feet and he visibly sank lower to the ground. "Are…you being serious right now?" was all Zoro could manage to repeat.

"Yes, shitty swordsman, the shitty cook is being serious."

"I uh…" Zoro couldn't remember how to talk. Sanji wasn't making fun of him for crying? He wasn't insulting him, but complimenting him in his own way? He was comforting him?

"Don't hurt yourself," Sanji smirked at him. "Protozoans such as you should not be thinking about complex things like a brilliant cook understanding a little about an idiot swordsman."

At that, Zoro's mouth finally decided to work.

"You don't have to be such an asshole about it."

"And the amoeba climbs the rungs of evolution to become moss again."

"Holy shit, I can't believe how much I hate you."

"You don't cry for someone you truly hate."

"Shut up ero-cook."

"I appreciated it."

Zoro let Sanji's words hover in the air around him as he fully comprehended what the blonde that was normally too busy talking to him with his shoes was actually saying.

"It's not and will never be your fault idiot," Sanji smiled warmly this time, his soft baritone voice smoothing over his words. "Even if it's you, my friends should never be crying for me or themselves."

There it was again! Zoro, his eyes now completely dry, gawked at Sanji smiling at him as if it was the most natural thing in the world, as if their fights and yelling spats were nothing, and had always been nothing, but friendly banter. There he was throwing around unmasked words such as "friend" with Zoro…with HIM! Was this how it had always been for Sanji? Was the only reason Sanji continued having such heated fights with him just because he didn't want to lose to him?

"Your pathetic levels just drove me to tears," Zoro finally managed to retort back.

"Sweet normalcy," Sanji mused while rolling his eyes.

"Hmph," Zoro snorted, but he couldn't keep a faint smile from pulling at the corners of his mouth. He wondered if maybe they could really openly be friends one day.

"Hey baka-marimo," Sanji had stopped looking at him and was now facing the ceiling with a much more serious and almost pained expression.

"What is it dart-brow?" Zoro adjusted himself back into his chair and leaned forward on his knees.

Now that Zoro was back to what Sanji considered normal, the cook's mind had wandered back to his current condition, and he couldn't help but feel anxious and afraid all over again.

"I still don't know what's wrong with me," Sanji flashed a wry smile at the ceiling.

"Oh…yeah…" Zoro was quickly brought back to the reality of Sanji's situation, why he had been so distraught in the first place.

"Is it really that bad?" Sanji whispered almost inaudibly. "Is it really that bad that you'd cry for me?"

"No…" Zoro lied. "I was just worried that you and your prissy self wouldn't be able to handle it."

"So you think I can't handle it?" Sanji gave the ceiling a rather perturbed glare.

"I was just talking about your attitude," Zoro hastily tried to clarify.

"You're not very good at this are you marimo?" Sanji gave Zoro a brief glance and sideways smile before he looked back at the ceiling.

"Being sappy? No," Zoro stated curtly.

Sanji just silently shook his head and sighed.

"Here, why don't you just take a look yourself?" Zoro suggested as he got up and started helping Sanji into a sitting position.

"Wait turf-head," Sanji looked away as Zoro helped him up and he lifted himself with his left hand. "I'm serious when I'm asking. Is it that bad?" His voice shook a little as he moved his left arm to steady himself on Zoro's shoulder.

Zoro bit his lip a little and slowly drew in a breath before answering, keeping his voice as steady as he could: "I don't know."

"Hmph" Sanji let a feeble smirk play across his lips. Instead of looking down at himself, however, Sanji continued to stare past Zoro at the wall. He couldn't believe what he was about to do, but he closed his eyes and calmed his breathing. "I'm scared."

Zoro's eyes widened and he glanced nervously around him, unsure of how to respond to the cook suddenly revealing his insecurities and admitting them to HIM of all people. Well, it had been a pretty weird last couple of minutes.

Sanji was shaking a little and looking everywhere but at himself. He couldn't bring himself to see if he was now a useless cripple to the rest of his nakama. If he couldn't fight or cook, what good was he?

Zoro's dark eyes met Sanji's now visible blue one and the words he had chosen ever so carefully to try to cheer Sanji up died in his throat. The blonde's normally stormy gray-blue eye was glassy and shook slightly as sadness as deep as the ocean spilled forth from it in waves as fear flashed across his face in quick shivers. He was desperate.

Now it was his turn to do the comforting. Damn whatever the cook would think later. Zoro gently wrapped his arms around the cook's shoulders and pulled him into a comforting embrace, letting Sanji's head lean against the crook of his shoulder. He could feel Sanji almost try to protest at first but quickly give up and surrender to the warmth and strength of the swordsman. His breath was coming in short spasms and Zoro could feel his body shudder with every tearful twitch. Beyond the point of caring what he was doing, Zoro began gently stroking Sanji's still bedraggled blonde hair and couldn't help but marvel at how silky smooth it actually was. He had assumed Sanji used some kind of stupid product to set his hair and keep it looking the way it did, but apparently, it was natural. Why was he thinking about this?

Sanji let himself stay that way for a couple of minutes that seemed to stretch on forever, but he finally realized who he was letting hug him and pet his hair, and his cheeks began to burn red.

"Uh…th…thanks," Sanji quickly tried to recover and pushed off Zoro to support himself with his left hand.

Zoro just shrugged and looked at Sanji expectantly as if waiting for him to find his own time to collect himself and talk to him more.

Sanji sat studying Zoro's intentions for a little, his cheeks still a little flushed and his visible eye still a little watery but now more pensive than anything. Was that supposed to be payback for Sanji's comments earlier?

"_Fine_," Sanji thought to himself. "_He was nice enough to try to comfort me in his own way. I might as well tell him what's on my mind and get this over with_."

"It's just…" Sanji started. "What if I can't fight or cook anymore? What use would I be? I'd only be weighing you all down and I don't think I could bear that."

Zoro's eyes instantly grew dark and Sanji thought he might have just made a big mistake.

"What if? What use? Weighing us down? Are you serious?" Zoro growled and narrowed his eyes. "I thought you were better than that."

"Come again?" Sanji was dumbstruck.

"Stupid ero-cook, swirly eyebrow pansy!" Zoro fumed.

Sanji could almost see the steam rising from what he would always remember as a moss-green covered head. He glanced away nervously.

"Just who do you think we are?" Zoro was nearly shouting if only holding back since Sanji was still gravely injured. "Just who did I think YOU WERE?" Zoro got up and pointed a shaking finger at Sanji's face for emphasis and started pacing around the room in a fit of suppressed rage.

"I just…" Sanji tried to explain but Zoro immediately cut him off."

"No, you don't JUST!" spat Zoro. "We would never treat you like a burden you damn idiot unless you, yourself, treat you like a burden. What use? Don't make me laugh; you were never useful from the beginning. What if? If you can spend so much time planning what ifs, then you can plan how you're going to make them not happen. We're still here. You're not alone. You're stronger…than…this…" he trailed off as if realizing how passionate he was getting over this, over Sanji, and disgruntled embarrassment replaced his anger.

Sanji was, for the second time in one night, at a complete loss for words. He couldn't believe he was just lectured by Zoro nonetheless, and…it had worked. He couldn't believe how pathetic and weak he had been. He was supposed to be the one supporting everyone else. Gathering the broken pieces of his pride together, he took his insecurities and shoved them back where they belonged, deep within himself. He locked eyes with the now slowly calming swordsman and managed to slap a smile back on his face.

"Thanks for that…it…wasn't like me to say the least."

"I don't need to hear it," Zoro said coolly. "But DON'T EVER talk like that or about anything else that happened again, you got that?"

"If the moss commands," Sanji replied with a smug grin.

"I'm serious," Zoro returned the grin. "You can't go saying things like 'I'm alive aren't I' and then complaining that it might not be a good thing."

"I had depressed plant life to comfort," Sanji shrugged.

"Depressed plant life...?" Zoro shook. "And who was just crying on my shoulder like a pathetic wimp? My shirt is still wet."

"Yeah, yeah…I'll skip over the parts that explain the nice little puddle at the side of my bed," Sanji recovered his usual mirth and smirked at Zoro.

"OHHHHOHO NO!" Zoro seethed. "YOU of all people are NOT allowed to bring that up. Don't forget to skip the part where you were whimpering like a little puppy!"

"Ngh…SHITTY MOSSHEAD!" Sanji growled.

"IDIOT-LOVECOOK!" Zoro fired back.

Despite all their arguing, Sanji couldn't help but feel the courage well up inside him as he leaned over to get as good of a look as he was going to get at himself. He was about to insult Zoro some more, but the words stopped coming. He glanced down at his blackening body and shriveled hand and…a smile crept over his face. What he saw disturbed him a little, but he had seen worse.

"Oi…Marimo…" Sanji started darkly.

"You ok?" Zoro knit his brow in apprehension.

"I…" Sanji paused.

"Yeah?" Zoro prompted timidly.

"You made this sound way worse than it is," Sanji sighed in relief.


	6. Chapter 5 - Q&A

**Chapter 5: Q&A**

"It's really not that…wait what?" Zoro did a double-take.

"Chopper can probably handle something like this," Sanji shrugged with his good shoulder. "I thought I had lost an arm or half my body or something. For something like this, I have more than enough faith that you guys'll be able to find a cure. You've dealt with a cursed sword before right Zoro?"

"Uh, yeah," Zoro moved to sit back in front of Sanji at the front of his bed with his arms crossed. "If this isn't that big a deal for you, I guess I had little to worry about."

"Awww, the marimo cares," Sanji poked.

"Do you want me to actually sever some limbs?" Zoro scoffed at Sanji between his teeth.

"No thanks, keep your concern to yourself. With your lack of direction, you'd probably cut off my left arm instead of my right anyways," Sanji raised his left hand. "I'd like to keep what I still got."

Zoro was at full boiling point at the foot of Sanji's bed; if Sanji had been any normal human, he probably would have died ten times over already just with the looks of indignation Zoro was flashing his way. If he wasn't in such bad condition, they would probably be fighting all over the ship already. Sanji began gingerly rubbing his right arm and inspecting the capabilities of the blackened areas. Zoro watched him for a little, but now that things had calmed down, Zoro had to know.

"Hey love-cook," Zoro kept his voice even and stifled any prideful fury.

"Huh, what is it marimo?" Sanji responded without looking up.

"What really happened then?" Zoro inquired bluntly.

Sanji hesitated for a second, but then kept on inspecting his right arm.

"What are you talking about?" he stalled.

"You know what I'm talking about," Zoro leaned forward and rested his arms on his legs glancing sideways at Sanji. "A simple feint attack is easy enough to avoid. What really happened that made you have to…end up like this?"

Sanji stopped rubbing his arm and looked up at Zoro. "Does it really matter?"

"Damn straight it matters," Zoro pressed. "It would probably be better for you if we know as much as we can about the situation."

"I don't really remember marimo," Sanji looked away at the floor.

Zoro let out a heavy sigh and turned to look directly at Sanji. "After all that just happened, you're gonna continue pushing me…all of us away? If your pride is what's keeping you from telling me, I'd drop that right now. Your life isn't something your pride should take away."

"That's my line and anyways…it's not pride," Sanji gripped his bad arm. "I really don't remember idiot. I mean, I have these flashes of memories, but it all seems so ridiculous and convoluted. I don't know if you'll believe me."

"Try me," Zoro sat up straight.

Zoro watched as Sanji let out a long sigh but then went completely still. There was an oppressive moment of silence before Sanji met Zoro's eyes with not fear or resolution, but rather anger. Sanji's eye wasn't bloodshot anymore, but for some reason, a faint red seemed to be permeating the edges of his iris. An intense hatred and bloodlust flowed from his gaze and Zoro instinctually reached for his swords still leaning at the foot of Sanji's bed.

"Cook?" Zoro questioned tentatively.

"I can't…" Sanji's voice came out more like a hiss. "I don't..."

"Oi, ero-cook!" Zoro gripped Shusui, never letting his gaze move from Sanji.

Sanji closed his eye and held his head with his good hand. His eyebrows were knitted in concentration and Zoro saw the black veins recede a little.

"I remember…I talked to the sword," Sanji managed through gritted teeth.

Sweat dripped down the tensing blonde's face as he continued to grip his head, trying in vain to stifle a massive migraine.

"You talked to it?" Zoro narrowed his eyes and tightened his grip on his sword. "Just now?"

"N…no," Sanji shook his head. "Back in the forest."

Sanji finally managed to lessen the driving pain in his head and relaxed a bit, opening his eye to look at Zoro again. This time, the red and hate had disappeared and Zoro released his grip on Shusui.

"Sanji, what happened?" Zoro insisted. "What have you done?"

"I don't know all the details. It just suddenly started coming back to me. I wasn't even sure what had happened at first," Sanji finally started. "It was like a nightmare, and when I woke up, the sword had already stabbed me."

"What are you talking about?" Zoro rested a hand on the cook's shoulder to steady him through all his rambling.

Sanji flinched at the touch for a moment before realizing how much he was trembling and how fast his heart was pounding in his chest. Taking a deep breath, he steadied his voice.

"Sorry, it's just really hard to sort through everything…" Sanji swatted Zoro's hand away not ungratefully, just to tell Zoro he could handle himself from here thank you.

"Just tell me what happened," came Zoro's terse reply.

"Well I guess I'll start from the beginning…" Sanji rubbed the back of his head thinking about how to arrange all the jumbled thoughts in his mind. "Um, so it started when you were seriously clashing with that sword the second time. I started hearing this weird voice in my head as I was moving to intercept your ambushers. It was pretty incessant all the way up to me kicking one of the guys away. That's when I don't understand what happened. It's like I blinked and suddenly the sword is stabbed in my side. I mean, it should have all gone smoothly…me saving your ass and all."

"My ASS didn't need any saving asshole. But wait, why couldn't I hear the sword at all?" Zoro pointed out. "I was the one physically trading blows with the thing."

"I know; it doesn't make any sense. Even what it was saying was all centered on YOU! Why talk to me at all?" Sanji ignored the asshole comment.

"Me? What the heck? What did it say?" Zoro pressed.

"Look, it's all a little hazy but this is what I remember. It told ME to stay out of its way," Sanji furrowed his brow in thought. "Now that I think about it, it kept warning me to not come any closer. It said that it wanted your skills with the blade to help free it from its curse by helping it drink the blood of the four oceans."

"Curse? Drink the blood of the four oceans?"

"Yeah…go on a killing spree in each of the four oceans or maybe...I told it that you'd never help it do something like that and then…"

"What?"

"It started shouting at you like crazy! It was practically begging, but you didn't seem to be able to hear it. I think it got really mad…it was about to flee and try itself on the rest of our crew."

"Shouting at me? Hold on, it was going to go for the rest of us? Is that why you got like this? So this really is my entire fault?" Zoro rounded on Sanji.

"No, I already told you this isn't your fault!" Sanji quickly waved his good hand for emphasis. "I'm telling you it was just a sword throwing a tantrum."

"Since when do you believe so fully in swords having a life of their own?" Zoro gave Sanji an unconvinced glare.

"We have seen a lot of weird things. I keep my options open. Do you remember that dog-bazooka that Usopp fought or that bastard Spandam's elephant-sword?" Sanji was deep in thought.

"Yeah, what's your point?" Zoro furrowed his brow, not liking what he was probably going to hear.

"I thought perhaps only Zoan-type fruits could be 'consumed' by normally inanimate objects, but I think this sword is a devil-fruit user of a different kind…" Sanji trailed off. "Paramecia perhaps…I don't think it's logia."

"That's ridiculous," Zoro scoffed. "And how did you figure that out?"

Sanji gave Zoro an incredulous look, took a glance down at his blackened body, met Zoro's eyes with a raised eyebrow and slanted smirk, and cocked his head to the side.

"Gee…I wonder what gave it away."

"Hey!" Zoro's eyes were flat and he jut his lower jaw out a little. "I'm not stupid asshole. What if it's just some kind of poison or something is what I was saying."

"It's a devil-fruit," Sanji responded resolutely. "It's what I just decided."

"Fine, fine, it's a devil-fruit," Zoro rubbed his hand down his face in frustration. "Whatever the heck its power is, can you just get on with what the fuck we were talking about before this conversation derailed into I don't care?!"

"I was just trying to answer your question, you shitty piece of landscape," came Sanji's reply.

"Then answer this one too!" Zoro's eyes were blazing.

"Don't rush me!" Sanji spat. "How many times do I have to say it's all a big blur even for me? I'm only saying what keeps coming to mind. I…I think I told it to wait, and for some reason, it did. It then proposed something to me. If I gave myself up to it, it would spare all of you."

"IDIOT!" Zoro burst. "Who asked you to do something like that?!"

"Hold on a second," Sanji hurriedly interjected. "I didn't agree to something like that. I told it to go shove itself into unsavory places and there was no way I'd give into such a shitty proposal, and it accepted my challenge."

"Wait, so what does that mean?" Zoro growled skeptically. "Did you lose or something?

"I wouldn't be here if I had lost…," Sanji looked down at his wound.

"Hold on…how did you even fight just a sword? What exactly were your terms? Why did the sword suddenly get so interested?"" Zoro interrupted.

"Woah, woah…one at a time…" Sanji seemed a bit annoyed.

He could barely remember what had actually happened. Things were just sort of popping into his head, and he had just been reiterating them as they had come. He wasn't even really sure if everything was right or not, and it annoyed him as much, if not more so than it did Zoro, that he couldn't remember clearly.

"I…I didn't fight it head on. I think I fought its will or some cheesy shit like that," Sanji decided to continue. "My right hand was probably the hand that held onto it and uh…you can see how that turned out."

"Wait a second. I'm confused," Zoro crossed his arms. "The whole time we were talking in the forest, you're hand never looked like that. And I held that sword in my hand before, even if it was only for a couple seconds. Why didn't it affect me? Does it have something to do with me not being able to hear it?"

"Er…uh…I don't know okay? Maybe it doesn't work on idiots. And it didn't do anything until we were walking to the Sunny. After that, I can't remember anything." Sanji answered, scratching his head.

"Who are you calling an idiot? You started screaming and passed out and all this terrible stuff started happening to you," Zoro filled in bluntly.

"I did?" Sanji glanced down at his body again. "Well that explains this I guess."

"Ok…so what happened in that forest?" Zoro pressed.

"I thought all the earlier stuff was just something in my mind, so I ignored it and decided to just have Chopper take a look at the wound when we got back to the ship, but then when we were just about out of the forest, I saw the sword again."

"Wait, you saw it?" Zoro interrupted. "I didn't see anything in that wind."

"I don't think you would have," Sanji shrugged. "When I looked around, you were gone. I figured you had just wandered off like an idiot again."

"After all this, consider yourself dead already," Zoro growled. "I was standing right next to you. Just tell me what happened."

"Wow, you were really still there? I guess it was the sword doing something weird again then." Sanji seemed genuinely surprised.

"Keep talking curly-brow…" Zoro said intimidatingly.

"So…I was about to fight the man that held it when he suddenly flipped the sword around and handed it to me." Sanji continued unperturbed.

"And like an idiot, you just grabbed the stupid thing?" Zoro raised an eyebrow.

"Of course not," Sanji looked back down at his blackened arm. "But that's when it told me it was face it now, or it would kill you."

"That's ridiculous. It couldn't get me before, how could it possibly hope to kill me at that point?" Zoro asked exasperatedly.

"Can I…see something?" Sanji suddenly sounded really nervous and worried.

"What is it?" Zoro narrowed his eyes.

"Have you checked yourself yet even?" this time, it was Sanji's turn to raise his eyebrow.

"…Actually…no," Zoro answered a little apprehensively.

"Look at your side," Sanji directed darkly.

A little nervous as to what he was going to find, Zoro lifted his shirt, and sure enough, a small cut that hadn't even bled or anything was surrounded ever so slightly by thin black lines in his left side.

"When did it hit me?" Zoro swiftly looked up at Sanji.

"How am I supposed to know?" Sanji was rubbing his temples with his good hand. "I don't keep track of all the shitty cuts you get. I would never sleep. But it seems like the sword was telling the truth after all."

"Shut up!" Zoro was serious. "What did you do? What did the sword say? I could have handled something like this."

"Look smart-ass," Sanji commented. "Have you been paying attention at all to just what this shitty sword is capable of? You have no idea what a small cut like that could mean. It's not like I didn't try asking. And…it's not like it didn't tell me."

"What? What did it say?" Zoro was practically shaking Sanji dizzy now.

"Stop shaking me! It told me about how it had managed a scratch on you, and that it couldn't take you over with such a scratch, but it could still kill you," Sanji managed as he grabbed one of Zoro's wrists with his good hand to stop him from shaking his brain out.

"Kill me? With this sorry excuse for a flesh wound? Do you even know who you're talking about?" Zoro scoffed accusingly.

"It could do it Zoro! I could tell. Whatever its ability is that both of us dismissed earlier, it's dangerous. I…I couldn't let that happen, not if I could do something about it, so I told it if I won, it would leave all of us alone and let us leave…its condition still stood that it would take me if I lost."

"How did you end up like this then if you won?" Zoro questioned.

"When I took hold of the sword that time, all the swords memories poured into me…and…I saw it Zoro." Sanji paused.

"Saw what?" Zoro urged.

"All Blue…" Sanji's voice sounded distant.

"All Blue?" Zoro's arms fell to his sides and he stared transfixed at Sanji in disbelief. This was the dream Sanji had had ever since he was a kid, back before he had even met Zeff. How many times had Sanji repeated his dream to the rest of the crew?

"How did you know?" Zoro asked still in a little shock.

"There was no mistake," Sanji looked at Zoro wide-eyed. "It wasn't any normal sea. The color, the water, the air…everything was so different."

"So…what happened?" Zoro interrupted Sanji's daydream.

"Oh…" Sanji snapped back to reality. "After I saw that, I immediately asked the sword what the heck it was, and it told me it came from All Blue. That's when I knew for certain. I couldn't help but ask it if that was really how it looked, and the sword told me all it could do was relay its memories, it couldn't tamper with them. That's when it started."

"What started?"

"It told me it could take me there if I just gave in to it," Sanji explained.

"And you let it do that?" Zoro interjected.

"No, that would have probably resulted in it taking me over dumbass! Just wait a second," Sanji looked up in annoyance. "I have to admit that it's not like I didn't think about it, but I told it I would find it with you guys but at least I knew it existed. That's when the sword began to glow in my hand and pain began shooting up my entire body. I tried to drop it, but it was like my hand itself was being absorbed into the sword. Everything began turning red; the ground, the trees, the sky, the air…I could barely breathe. The sword kept trying to make me accept it, but I wouldn't let it, and the pain just kept getting worse and worse. That's when I heard your…all of your voices from somewhere far away. It took all I had, but I was able to let go of the sword."

"You call that winning?" Zoro looked a little disgruntled and obviously not buying it.

"I told you this was a battle of wills," Sanji sighed in exasperation. "If you don't like that I didn't break the stupid thing, then go do it yourself."

"It just seems so…anti-climactic," Zoro rested his chin on one of his hands.

"Sorry I didn't let the sword take me over," Sanji laid himself back down. "That's it so far, Sanji grumbled. You know about as much as me now."

"It seems too easy," Zoro grumbled. "Why would it show you All Blue at all? Why not just try to take you over? Why talk to you for that matter? Why couldn't I hear it? Why even bother offering you a deal? Why the sudden switch from me to you?"

"What part of 'you know about as much as me now' do you not understand?" Sanji rubbed his temples. A headache was starting to develop again and all of Zoro's questions were not helping.

"This just all seems so overly convenient and stupid," Zoro huffed.

"I'm not going to pretend I don't agree with you for once," Sanji sighed. "There's still the matter of reversing the effects anyways." He warily ran his fingers over his right arm.

Zoro's eyes were drawn back to Sanji's still black vein covered body and his face contorted into a grimace.

"Yeah," was all he said.

"Do the others know about any of this?" Sanji gestured to his body as he met Zoro's gaze.

"I think they're all worried about you," Zoro hinted, crossing his arms.

"Great…" Sanji looked away and frowned.

"Why is that a bad thing?" Zoro frowned right back.

"I…don't like worrying people," came Sanji's muffled reply to the wall.

"Don't get so full of yourself," Zoro continued glaring at Sanji who refused to meet his eyes. "Do I have to say this again? Nakama right?" Zoro used Sanji's own words.

At that, Sanji turned his head to lock eyes with Zoro and Zoro couldn't help but swallow a sharp intake of breath as soft blue came to meet him. The cook was smiling a deep sincere smile that stretched all the way across his face, but his eye betrayed the sadness hidden somewhere deep within. It sparkled with life and reflected the colors of the ocean, but Zoro could see the softness and lightest of trembling beneath the surface. He fell into that lost orb for a moment as Sanji lifted his good arm and lightly jabbed Zoro in the ribs.

"Thanks marimo," Sanji murmured while still smiling.

The soft punch woke Zoro out of his stupor, and he quickly regained his composure.

"It's your fault for being such a pansy," he tried to sound uninterested and angry. "And our prior discussion isn't over."

"Sure," Sanji just shrugged.

Neither of them said anything after that for what felt like hours but was probably just a couple minutes. Sanji rested peacefully on the bed with Zoro sitting casually on the edge while fiddling with a bump in the sheets. The two just relaxed for a moment, letting the tension from the past couple of hours slowly drain from the room. Finally, Zoro broke the silence as a thought occurred to him.

"Hey cook, you still up?" he started.

"What is it now, marimo?" Sanji muttered but not in annoyance.

"I was just wondering how you were actually feeling…now I mean…" Zoro could feel his cheeks beginning to flare.

"Huh?" Sanji suppressed his bursting surprise and tried to sound uninterested.

"I'm asking if you're still in pain or anything…" Zoro's cheeks were now a nice shade of crimson.

"I'm fine right now as long as I don't move my right arm," Sanji answered back honestly to Zoro's kind gesture. "Still looking in monochrome, but everything's a lot clearer now."

"That's good I guess," Zoro mumbled.

"You've been awfully nice to me lately," Sanji opened his eye to look at Zoro.

"I'd like to be slicing you into ribbons across the Sunny if I could," Zoro continued staring holes in the floor trying to put out the fires in his cheeks.

"_Get better soon_," Sanji translated in his head. "And I'd like to be kicking your shitty green head into mush if I could."

"_Thanks, and I will,_" Zoro translated in his head. "Dream on cook."

Sanji just smiled but continued looking at the side of Zoro's head.

"I hate to start up the questions again, but I have to know," Zoro didn't turn to face Sanji but just kept his eyes glued to the floor. "What was that a while ago with that killing aura emanating from you?" Zoro reminded apprehensively.

"What?" Sanji propped himself up on his good elbow.

"When I asked you to tell me what happened, it felt like you wanted to kill me. Do you remember that?" Zoro prompted.

"I what?" Sanji looked confused. "We try to kill each other all the time."

"Well, yeah…but this was different," Zoro stated darkly. "This time, I could see it in your eyes. There was nothing but burning hatred and murder behind them, a glowing red desire to just suck the life out of me."

"I…" Sanji could suddenly barely see anything, but he glanced down at his hands. "It's…"

"Sanji? Are you…" Zoro started, but Sanji suddenly shot his arm up and grabbed onto Zoro's.

"What are you doing?!" Zoro cried as he reached for his swords.

"It…never left," Sanji lifted his head slowly to look Zoro dead in the eye. "You have to get away from me…ALL OF YOU have to get away from me!

"Don't be ridiculous! We'd never abandon you regardless of what's happening to you. We'll find a way to rid you of this damn sword's curse or poison or whatever!" Zoro let go of his swords for emphasis.

"NO!" Sanji looked absolutely desperate. "DON'T LET GO OF THOSE SWORDS! My…right arm is moving."


	7. Chapter 6 - Affliction

_Thanks to all those that reviewed, favorited, or followed. Now, back to some action._

* * *

**Chapter 6: Affliction**

"What?" Zoro paused as he slowly glanced down.

Sure enough, Sanji's decaying arm was trembling and his hand kept clenching and unclenching like it was testing its muscles, muscles that should have been completely useless.

"GET. AWAY." Sanji growled at Zoro through clenched teeth. "And if you won't get the hell away from me, cut my arm off…RIGHT NOW!"

"What the...like HELL I will!" Zoro burst. "Do you even hear yourself? This is one of your 'precious cook hands' you're talking about!"

Even through a growing haze of red, Sanji was dumbfounded. Zoro cared about something like that? When did this happen? Was it the recent events? Wasn't he always poking fun at him for his creeds? He would have said something, but his mind felt like it blinked out of existence for a second, and by the time he retook control of his own thoughts, the words were lost to him. As he willed himself back to reality through a numbing fog, he could hear Zoro continuing.

"I'm not one to argue with cutting off a limb to save your life, but look at you; you're not going to live through it if I were to cut your arm off now!" Zoro explained in exasperation.

"Damn it Zoro!" Sanji managed to scream. "Of all the times for you to not want to cut…"

Suddenly, Sanji fell silent and a heavy air filled the room.

"Curly-brow?" Zoro tried to free himself from Sanji's grip, but his good hand was still locked on his arm like an iron cuff. "Hey cook, can you hear me?"

Sanji made no response and there was no sound in the room but the beating of Zoro's own heart. He gripped his swords and began slowly unsheathing Wado.

"If it's that sword right now, I swear I'm going to shatter you into pieces so small, dust will dwarf you! I'm the one you wanted in the first place right? Then come and get me! Let this idiot go!" Zoro tried to plead.

Zoro again was answered with nothing but silence, but he managed to free Wado and now had her poised and ready to strike if the sword should ever show itself.

"I…di…ot," Sanji suddenly managed to force out.

"What?" Zoro relaxed at hearing the cook's voice when Sanji suddenly shot his face up to meet his again.

The red aura around his irises burned more brightly than before and something resembling a smile crept slowly across his face.

"Idiot," this time Sanji breathed the insult out in a mocking snicker.

Zoro could feel himself being lifted off the bed as Sanji abruptly jumped onto his feet and began raising his arm to hold the swordsman up. Did that cook always have this much upper-body strength? Zoro had only a few seconds to marvel at that thought as a powerful kick was sent straight into his gut, sending him barreling through the wall of the sick bay, straight through the dining hall, and out into the middle of the Sunny.

"What was that?!" Nami hurriedly glanced behind Usopp where they had been standing at the foot of the stairs leading to the 2nd floor rooms.

"GWAAAAHHH! DON'T ASK ME! I DON'T WANT TO TURN AROUND!" Usopp panicked.

"That came from the sick bay where Sanji was!" Chopper exclaimed.

Zoro coughed a little as the dust around him settled, and gingerly pushed himself up out of the rubble. He was still gripping Wado that he had managed to pull out before Sanji sent him flying through the wall and held it in front of him as he gazed intently in the direction of the galley. Sanji's figure emerged from the hole where Zoro had just crashed through the dining hall and stood gazing down at him. His whole body was shadowed by the darkness save for his glowing red eye, and his aura said nothing but impending massacre.

"Zoro! Are you ok? Is…Is that Sanji?!" Usopp asked hesitantly as his head darted between the two facing off. "What's going on?!"

"He shouldn't be moving around! Did you two get into a fight even now?" Chopper yelled at Zoro.

"I'm fine and no! I don't think that's really the idiot cook!" Zoro shouted and paused. "I KNOW that's not really him! There's something controlling him!"

"Controlling him?" Nami repeated questioningly to herself. "Then maybe my guess was right."

"What are you talking about Zoro?" Usopp pressed. "He shouldn't even be able to move!"

"I'm telling you it's a sword!" Zoro barked at Usopp. "Get a friggin clue!"

"WHAT AROUND HERE IS TELLING ME IT'S A SWORD?!" Usopp pointed out exasperatedly.

"Is there anything we can do?" Chopper pleaded. "Sanji's going to die if he keeps moving around like this. That wound alone was no laughing matter and his body was in terrible shape."

"I wasn't finished telling you guys but…" Nami never got the chance to finish.

Sanji suddenly shot a glance at the three of them and Nami could feel cold terror shoot down her spine. Chopper shrunk behind Usopp who was frozen solid in fear. This...was no Sanji.

Turning his attention back on Zoro, Sanji leapt off the 2nd story and began charging straight at him.

"Cook! What are you doing? It's me! Listen to me! I don't want to fight you like this! I know you can hear me! SANJI!" Zoro screamed, even calling the cook's stupid name for all he was worth.

Sanji just locked him with his burning gaze and smiled.

"Kukan-tekina…Yugami."

There was a rush of wind and the whole Sunny seemed to pitch and rumble in its wake as Sanji vanished into thin air.

"What?" Zoro shot his head in all directions trying to pinpoint the bloodlust coming from the sword's aura, but Sanji was quicker. The cook came swooping in from the side, slammed a kick into his arm holding Wado so that Zoro was forced to let go, and shoved him to the ground, pinning him with his good arm all in one swift motion.

Without wasting a single movement, he lifted his right arm into the night sky and grabbed the air as if he was gripping a sword. That's when Zoro saw it again. A red glow began to manifest itself around Sanji's arm and crawled around his fingertips. In a flash of crimson, the sword appeared in his right hand and he gracefully flipped it around to aim straight for Zoro's heart.

"SANJI, WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" Usopp shouted at the top of his lungs from the side. "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!"

Usopp began running forward when Sanji shot a look of such malice, Usopp froze mid-step and a fear unlike any of the many he had felt before gripped his chest. The air around him suddenly felt like it was trying to crush him and his mind felt like it was being assaulted by a myriad of swords stabbing him over and over again. He crumpled to his knees, his eyes white with terror and pain and his head feeling like it was going to explode.

"S…Sanji…" Usopp begged.

"USOPP!" Nami raced over and tried to shake him, but Sanji turned his gaze on her, and suddenly, the world began to spin and zoom in and out of focus. The ship seemed to quake and the air became unbreathable. She quickly averted her eyes, but the terror wouldn't leave. "STOP IT!" she cried. "Sanji…"

"USOPP! NAMI!" Zoro called. "IDIOT COOK, WHAT ARE YOU DOING? EVEN NAMI?!"

"What the hell do I care," Sanji hissed as he turned back to Zoro, his voice shaded with the sound of metal. "I'm sick of listening to you all shouting names at each other! What's the difference?! I'm just going to drain all of you…of every last ounce of your pathetic selves! I'm going back!"

"WHAT?!" Zoro shouted as he got his foot under Sanji's stomach, mumbled a short apology, and shoved.

"Agh, Damn it!" Sanji stumbled back and gripped at where his wound was.

Zoro instantly rolled away and leapt back to his feet, grabbing Wado and turning to face the cook.

"Back where?" he pressed, but he wasn't going to get his answer as the air around Sanji suddenly changed.

"Shit…Zoro? Why'd you do that?" Sanji was still gripping the sword and holding his wound but looked completely lost.

"Cook, is that you?" Zoro rushed forward.

"Too easy," came the reply.

"No, you're too predictable."

A loud clang echoed across the Sunny as Zoro and Sanji's blades crashed against each other. Sanji looked mildly perturbed as Zoro just smirked at him.

"You really think even with petty tricks you're going to be able to get the upper hand against me in a sword battle with katana?" Zoro cocked his eyebrows amusedly.

"We'll see," Sanji replied, his voice once again completely shrouded in a metallic hiss.

As the words left his mouth, Sanji instantly separated from Zoro and made a quick one-handed slash at Zoro's legs. Zoro easily jumped away and made his own slash, but his was aimed solely at the sword the cook was already bringing up to block his attack.

Again, the sound of tempered steel sliding against tempered steel rang out over the ship. The sword in Sanji's hand quivered slightly, but Zoro determined it was more from the inexperienced fighting style the cook was being forced to use than the blow he had given it. Despite that, the cook had a fairly good grip on the sword, even with the hand gripping it being a shriveled, black mess. If he wanted to knock it out or break it, he would have to do better. They held their blades locked together for a little when the wind picked up and Sanji, once again, seemed to evaporate into thin air.

Zoro let his senses spread out around him and let instinct take over.

"BEHIND YOU!" Chopper called from where he was leaning over a still trembling Usopp and Nami.

But the warning was unnecessary; Zoro already could sense it.

"You need to work on that bloodlust of yours," he directed his comment at the sword as he whirled around and braced against Sanji's attack.

"And you need to know your nakama better," Sanji just smiled as he instantly let his sword fall lax and slide down the length of Wado. "Côtelette." Dropping to a crouch, he flipped onto his one good hand and shot his leg forward in a jarring kick straight into Zoro's ribs. The swordsman was thrown backwards and skid across the length of Sunny's deck, slamming unceremoniously into the railing.

"Damn, I almost forgot the sword is the least of my worries," Zoro shook his head as he hastily propped himself back to standing, gripping the railing for support.

"Zoro look out!" Chopper was running towards the wobbling first mate as Sanji was already rushing to follow up on his last attack. "I'm sorry Sanji! Rumble! Arm Point! Kokutei Roseo!"

Sanji was forced to turn and block Chopper's heavy blow as the impact shoved him back a few feet. The cook stood scrutinizing the transformed Chopper as his head slowly tilted slightly to the side and a thin smile crept across his face.

"This crew is interesting," Sanji jeered as he spun the sword around in what should have been a still unusable hand.

Chopper raised his arms in preparation as he saw Zoro from the corner of his eye readjust his sword and give him a thankful nod.

"Sanji, please stop!" Chopper implored. "You're already reopening your wounds and this is crazy! I don't understand!"

"It's not the idiot cook," Zoro's voice was flat as he cautiously walked over to stand next to a trembling Chopper. "I don't know if he can hear us."

Chopper visibly sagged next to Zoro and the swordsman jabbed a comforting poke in the reindeer's side.

"We'll get him back," Zoro stated to both reassure him and the wavering doctor.

"You done?" Sanji's clouded voice interrupted their brief moment of respite.

"No, but thanks for waiting," Zoro mocked.

"No problem…marimo."

Marimo? Was that a trace of Sanji? Zoro was dragged out of his thoughts by a sharp intake by Chopper. The transformed reindeer had reverted back to his normal size for some reason and was whimpering, his eyes wide and his tiny hooves clenching at his head.

"CHOPPER!" Zoro yelled and ran to stand between his curled up nakama and the grinning Sanji who only then moved his gaze away from the little reindeer to focus back on Zoro.

"What have you done to them?!" Zoro demanded as he glanced between Chopper and an only barely recovered Nami and Usopp who were watching them with quivering eyes.

"How about, why doesn't it work on you?" Sanji's grin faded to a flat stare.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Zoro growled back.

"Fine," Sanji readied the katana in his hand, and the eerie marks along the blade began to glow a faint red.

This wasn't good. Zoro barely had enough time to react before the wind started up again and Sanji disappeared.

"This is getting old," Zoro closed his eyes to concentrate, but they shot open when he realized too late what was happening.

"WAIT, SANJI STOP!" Zoro heard Usopp scream, and his body reacted before he could even think his actions through.

Zoro threw himself between Usopp and the possessed cook and managed to block the blade part of the attack but was slammed onto the deck of the Sunny by a quick heel drop. Stars danced across his vision and a slight ache rolled around his head as he closed his eyes and braced himself for the final blow. He could feel blood running down his face, but for some reason, there was no pain other than his developing headache. He sluggishly opened his eyes only to see Sanji biting his own arm, struggling with all his might to wrench the sword out of his own hand with the other, blood dripping onto Zoro's face from his arm and reopened wound. Sanji backed off of Zoro and slammed himself backwards against the wall of the aquarium bar.

"SANJI!" Zoro shouted as he quickly recovered and jumped to his feet, Wado still clutched like a lifeline in his tensing hand.

He took a quick look at Usopp and Nami, but they seemed fine, shaken, but fine. They were panting heavily and sweat covered their bodies, but both of them seemed to be more concerned with Sanji as they were watching him intently, calling out to him.

"Shit…shut up you stupid sword!" Sanji yelled through his teeth. "I'm taking things…into my OWN hands! This is why…I can't stand…USELESS. IDIOT. SWORD-FLAILING. MARIMOS!"

Zoro stood dumbfounded as he worked to process the last couple of seconds. Finally, he let a light relieved laugh escape his lips before settling back into serious stoicism. "About time shit-cook. You gonna stop being controlled now?"

"I'm trying you piece of lawn!" Sanji responded furiously. "This…this is as hard as it looks!"

Zoro couldn't help but smile a little at that.

"If I were to touch the sword now, would it be able to control me?" Zoro questioned suggestively.

"How…am I supposed…to know?!" Sanji bit down harder as he could feel the sword's fury surge again.

"In that case, I'm going to wrench that piece of crap right out of your hands!" Zoro declared and began charging forward.

"NO!" Nami interrupted. "DON'T TOUCH IT! It might not be able to control you, but it would still be able to use its absorption ability. You have to break it for him! Cut straight through that sword Zoro!"

"_Absorption_?" Zoro thought. Whatever, he'd ask about it later. "This time, I'll slice straight through that cheap excuse for a bread knife," he sneered as he advanced on Sanji. "Keep it as still as you can dart-brow!"

"Nrrrrgggghhh..." Sanji grumbled as he fought through all the pain. He couldn't talk anymore; it was taking all of his strength just to maintain consciousness.

Zoro calmed his thoughts and began focusing his energy to his new task. He had to make sure not to hit Sanji, but swing with enough force to slice straight through a demon/cursed/whatever sword that was probably ten times harder than regular steel. Steadying his hand, he positioned his sword backward at his side and held it as if he was about to draw.

"Ittouryuu, Iai…Shishi Sonson!" Zoro called as another large gust of wind rocked the Sunny.

The wind came to an abrupt and almost immediate stop as silence fell over the ship. Usopp and Nami had to blink a few times to refocus their vision. They hadn't even seen Zoro's strike, and they waited restlessly for the results to reveal themselves. Zoro stood with his sword still in the sheathed position staring fixatedly at Sanji. The sound of the waves began to float gently back over the boat as Sanji slid, unconscious, down the wall. Zoro quickly moved forward and caught him as the glow around the sword faded and it clanged loudly against the deck, its blade split cleanly in two.

"SANJI!" Usopp, Nami, and a recovered Chopper shouted as they raced over.

Sanji's wound had reopened and remnants of his own blood stained his lips. His right arm again hung limp at his side, a small stream of blood trickling slowly from where he had been biting it.

"Someone call a doctor!" Chopper panicked as he looked over Sanji. "Sanji's going to die!"

"That's you idiot!" Zoro barked.

"Oh yeah…" Chopper calmed himself down. "Just lay him out in the aquarium bar," Chopper directed as he fell into immediate doctor-mode. "We don't want to move him anymore than we have to. Bring me the bandages and disinfectant from my room and some clean towels and a bucket of fresh water. We've got to clean him up and stop his bleeding first of all. I'm also going to need the blood transfusion equipment. He'll die from blood loss alone at this rate."

"Right!" Usopp and Nami called over their shoulders as they raced for the sick bay.

Zoro carefully propped Sanji up on his shoulder and dragged him as carefully as he could into the aquarium bar. Chopper transformed into his human form and helped Zoro lift him onto one of the couches.

"Are you doing ok?" Chopper hinted at Zoro.

"He stopped himself before he could do any real damage," Zoro looked down at Sanji worriedly. "I didn't even get cut."

Suddenly, Sanji's left hand twitched and he wearily opened his eye. Pain instantly racked his whole body, and he reached out suddenly, grabbing Chopper by the collar.

"Sanji!" Chopper yelled.

"Back off Chopper! He may still be being controlled," Zoro readied his sword which he had never let out of his grasp.

"No, it's fine Zoro," Chopper replied calmly.

Realizing what he was doing, Sanji hastily let go of Chopper and flopped back down onto the couch. His blue eye looked glazed over, but there was no sign of any red, for now.

"Was that you Chopper?" Sanji squinted in the direction he thought they were.

"Yeah, I'm standing right here," Chopper responded, a little bit confused.

"Damn that sword…hey cook," Zoro started nervously. "Can you see this?"

Zoro lifted his sword and caught the light on it, shining it directly into Sanji's eye. Sanji didn't even blink and just frowned instead.

"Look…I can tell you're shining some kind of light in my face or something, but everything except where the lights are is completely black…though they just look like blurry white spots to me," Sanji answered. "Fantastic…"

"Sanji…you can't see anymore?" Chopper was waving in front of him looking worried.

"Oh Chopper…uh…yeah I guess," Sanji tried to shrug but his body hurt so bad he cringed instead.

"Don't try to move Sanji," Chopper held him down. "Don't worry. We'll definitely fix everything. I'll get your sight back for you."

"Yeah, I wasn't worried about it," Sanji smiled. "At least, for now, I don't have to look at that ugly mug standing next to you."

"How did you know I'm even standing next to him," Zoro fumed.

"I didn't," Sanji flashed a triumphant grin at Zoro. "Glad you knew who I was talking about."

"I should have cut you up with the sword..." Zoro shook with fury. "But hey…think of all the girls that will be spared from your lecherous field of vision…"

"OH MY GOD!" Sanji's eye flew open and he nearly jumped up. "He's right…but…now I have the perfect excuse for accidentally touching a girl's…oh god…but what if I touch a guy on accident…well that's their problem…wait, what about Nami-san or Robin-chan…what if I…aaaagghhhhh!...CHOPPER! You need to fix my vision ASAP!" Sanji grabbed Chopper's arm and stared pleadingly at where he thought Chopper's eyes should be. "It's a matter of life and death!"

"So…what was I worried for?" Nami walked in through the door with the blood transfusion equipment.

"Sanji! You're alive!" Usopp shouted and raced over carrying the medical supplies, towels and a bucket.

"Uwah!...Nami-swan!" Sanji tried to look in the direction of her voice. "How I've missed the lyrical sound of your angelic voice."

"He sounds fine to me," Nami sighed as she handed the equipment to Chopper and Usopp dropped his pile of stuff near the couch.

"It's certainly not as good as he's making it out to be," Chopper whispered to Nami. "He's even blind right now."

"He's what?!" Nami couldn't help but shout a little.

Sanji instantly snapped alert at the sound of Nami's outburst.

"Nami-san, are you ok?" a cold dread crept over Sanji. "I didn't hurt you or anyone else did I? Especially you!"

"You went after me," Zoro answered a little too quickly. "You didn't hurt anyone else."

"Nami-san?" Sanji tried to confirm.

"I'm fine Sanji," Nami comforted. "You…didn't do anything."

She thought about the feeling of absolute fear that had consumed her for that split moment, but she didn't want to put Sanji under any more stress, so she kept quiet.

"She's ok, right Usopp?" Sanji wasn't satisfied, even if Nami herself had said it.

"We're all fine," Usopp responded. "You should worry more about yourself. You look like you're about to die…and wait, what about the rest of us?"

"You're fine," Sanji answered back nonchalantly.

"He's fine," Usopp grumbled.

"Right?" Zoro muttered in agreement.

* * *

_Fight scenes man…le sigh._

_Kukan-tekina Yugami – spatial distortion_


End file.
